AC Milan are experiencing one of their best moments on the field, so CEO Ivan Gazidis and his staff are constantly looking for ways to exploit that.
La Gazzetta dello Sport talks about the mission to increase revenues, and to further improve on the €96.4m deficit that came in the latest balance sheet, which suggested a positive trend because losses had been halved from 2019-20.
The new stadium project considered a fundamental pillar for the future in the medium term, but other operations have already been finalised such as the purchase and eventual sale of Casa Milan for a capital gain of approximately €20m.
Sponsorship revenue was also up 20% in 2020-21 compared to the previous year, going from €36.7m to €54m and to this the beneficial effects of the many commercial partnerships (25 since August 2020) must be added, such as the ones with BMW or Google.
The global vision is that of an increasingly international and less “Italian-centric” Milan, in a process that began a couple of years ago and of which the fruits are now being reaped.
New brands are showing a willingness to sponsor the Rossoneri and Wefox should the latest. The insurance brand will have their logo placed on the back of the Milan shirt, joining the main sponsor Emirates, the technical sponsor PUMA and BitMEX, a sleeve sponsor who pay €5-6m per year.
Gazidis’ recent trip to the Dubai Expo also led to reflections and discussions with the top sponsor Emirates who pay €14.2m per year to have their name across the front of the Milan shirt, and it could be that the current agreement expiring in 2023 is renewed at a higher figure, perhaps with bonuses.
The idea behind all of this vision is that it will create a financially stronger Milan, to bridge the gap with the elite European teams in the Champions League. The revenues are used to keep the budgets in place, to strengthen the structure of the club, to then buy players to improve the squad and the on-field performances.
I will always be very grateful to Gazidis. Milan is gaining more popularity globally and the result on field is getting much more better and also the revenue growth of the club is increasing yearly. Currently my mindset is off any trophy for now and no need to compete with anyone but I believe if we can try and retain Atleast 80% of this current squad then I believe next season will be a very successful one for us even in the CL.